1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas identifying apparatus, a gas identifying method, a gas handling assisting system and a gas handling assisting method, and more particularly to a gas identifying apparatus, a gas identifying method, a gas handling assisting system and a gas handling assisting method for identifying a hazardous gas, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been known a gas detecting device for changing the color of a reagent based on a chemical reaction between a gas such as a hazardous gas or the like and the reagent. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,657B1 refers to an M256 chemical agent detection kit.
The gas detecting device comprises a reagent, an ampule containing the reagent, and a medium such as paper. When the ampule is broken, the reagent in the broken ampule flows into the medium. When the reagent flows into the medium, the reagent chemically reacts with a gas that is held in contact with the medium. The chemical reaction changes the color of the reagent, and the change in the color of the reagent changes the color of the medium. The user recognizes the intensity of the gas in accordance with the change in the color of the medium.
The gas detecting device suffers the following problems:
The operation of the gas detecting device is not easy. It is time-consuming to operate the gas detecting device, and the gas detecting device needs to be operated by two persons. The gas detecting device lacks an ability to control environmental elements such as temperature, ultraviolet radiation, etc. The reproducibility and reliability of chemical reactions that are developed by the gas detecting device are poor. The user judges the color of the medium (reagent), and the judgment that is made by the user is nonobjective.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,657B1 discloses a reader that is designed to make up for the shortcomings of the gas detecting device.
Specifically, the disclosed reader has automatized the operation of the gas detecting device. As a result, the operating time of the gas detecting device has greatly been reduced.
The reader controls the environmental elements to increase the reproducibility and reliability of chemical reactions.
The reader has a photodiode that is sensitive to at least three wavelength ranges and generates a signal depending on the color of the medium (reagent). Therefore, the user can objectively judge the color of the medium (reagent) based on the generated signal from the photodiode.
The color of the reagent may slightly change depending on the type of the gas to be detected. However, the reader disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,657B1 is unable to recognize such a slight change in the color of the reagent. Therefore, the user cannot identify a gas with the reader disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,657B1.